Microcinema Flashback - Things My Nine-Year Old Daughter Taught Me About Acting (2003)

From March 2003, lessons I learned from my daughter, Dorothea, during the shooting of our DV feature called The Box.

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Things My Nine-Year Old Daughter Taught Me About Acting
By Pete Bauer

When shooting the DV feature, THE BOX, one of the main characters ended up being played by my nine-year old daughter, Dorothea. Even though she had never acted before, I knew she was perfect for the role because:

1. she took direction well,
2. she has a natural talent with words
3. since she was my daughter I could make her work whenever I needed. :)

It was through coaching my daughter in THE BOX that I came across some things that may help other micro-budget filmmakers working with non-actors.

The entire purpose of "acting" is to look like your NOT acting and that's where non-actors get into trouble... they try too hard. But here are some tips that you can use to get a stronger performance out of your non-actors.

Relaxation: This is probably the hardest things for a non-actor to achieve. Relaxation comes from comfort and the fact that you're using non-actors means that, more than likely, you're dealing with people who haven't spent a lot of time in front of the camera. So, getting them to relax in front of it can be difficult. This tension often manifests itself with a nervous giggle or an incessant smile on their face. And then they'll "act" for you, which is exactly what you want to avoid. So, here are some things you can say to non-actors to alleviate the pressure:

• Tell them that you'll shoot as many takes as necessary. If they need 100 takes to get it right, fine, no problem. And, for most non-actors, it may take 10 or 12 takes to get them comfortable.
• Tell them that your sole job is to make them look as good as possible, which is true, and that you'll do whatever you can to help them do that.
• Let them understand your appreciation for their contributing to the project. Let them know that, without them, this couldn't happen and empathize with the awkward situation they're in.
• When they screw up, joke with them, keep the atmosphere light. If they sense you're at all tense or frustrated, they'll lose whatever relaxtion they've acheived.
• One final thing you can try is, after a take, tell them that you got the take you wanted, but that you want to do a couple more for safety. Even if their last take was lousy, when they think that you've got a take you can use, they'll often sigh and you'll see the burden of acting lifted off their shoulders. You'll find that they're suddenly relaxed and these next few "safety takes" are the ones that will end up in the finished product.

Know Your Actor's Weaknesses: It's important to know what your actors can and cannot do BEFORE shooting starts.

• Have your actors run lines together, going over the scene again and again. Let them do this for as long as they need, because it will save you a lot of time when the camera's rolling.
• While they're running lines, throw in some direction (move here on this line, don't get so angry, etc.) See how they respond. You'll get a better idea as to what will and will not work, what type of direction they respond to and what they can't process.

You should also find out if they are "first take" actors or "last take" actors.

• First take actors do their best work on the first take and only get weaker and more stilted the more they redo the scene.
• Last take actors get better and more relaxed with each take and their best performance is the last one you shoot. Fortunately, most actors fall into this category.

Find out if your actor prefers "line readings" or more subtle direction.

• A line reading is when you say the line exactly as you want it to be said, with the tone, inflection, urgency, etc. The actor will then copy how you said the line.
• Some people need to make their line readings their own and you'll need to make them understand why they're saying the line... which leads me to the next category...

Lines vs. Logic: Most non-actors spend a lot of energy worrying about getting their lines right... too much time and it shows. Bad acting doesn't come from how they look, but how they sound... their words just don't sound believable. This usually comes from putting too much focus on making sure each word in the sentence are in the proper order instead of understanding exactly why they are saying what they're saying. It's like turning a line "Can't you show me how you feel?" into something as daunting as memorizing "5463 511 58914 654860644 654699." When you see an actor investing more time in the order of their lines than in the meaning behind them, try the following:

• Take a moment to make sure they understand the logic behind the words. Make sure that they focus on WHY they are saying something, as opposed to the exact words they are saying. If a scene is written well enough, and the actor can understand the logic behind their lines, then they will eventually understand that the only appropriate line to say next is "Can't you show me how you feel?"
• That understanding of logic also needs to work for a scene. In THE BOX I had one long scene that had to be shot in single take. So, I went through it with the actors, breaking the scene into sections, or "beats". I explained the logic behind the words and the logic behind the beats. So, instead of them having to memorize a LONG scene, they put together a bunch of short beats that made sense to them. For example: The first beat you want to make him angry. The second beat you want him to apologize. The third beat your are sorry for pushing him too hard.
• Let them paraphrase. Unless an exact line is necessary for the plot, if you see an actor is stumbling over words, then tell them to put it into their own words. Simply ask them "what are you trying to say?" They'll first try to recite their lines, but don't let them. Tell them to tell you, in their own words, what they are trying to convey. Then, tweak the line to fit how they feel comfortable saying it. This allows them to take ownership of the line, they feel like they're contributing and their performance will be more believable. And, what you'll usually find is that, once they put it into their own words, they eventually end up using your original dialogue, except they now understand what they're saying.

These are a few tips that I learned when directing my daughter and other actors in the making of THE BOX. Nothing pulls an audience out of a story like bad acting. So, do everything you can to get the strongest, most sincere performance you can from your actors. In the end, you'll have a more successful project and you'll be living up to your promise... to make the actors look as good as possible.